Week 3 Reading Diary A: Narayan Ramayana

Rama Chastises the Dying Vali from Wikimedia

This week I continued reading Narayan's Ramayana and really enjoyed it. Some points I found particularly interesting follow below.

Jatayu's Death : Jatayu is very confident going into this battle, and it's interesting to me that he tells Sita to not worry, because he's going to save her from Ravana. The battle is intense, but in the end Jatayu is killed, and cannot even tell Rama where Ravana took Sita. This isn't a martyrdom, so I wonder what purpose Jatayu's death has, besides the appearance that his older brother makes later. The Ramayana hasn't had many 'senseless' deaths that I've noticed, so the fact that Ravana beats Jatayu ends up being a testament to Ravana's power. It's a good reminder of why Rama is going through the world and purging it of evil, and really shows the reader how terrible Ravana is.

Vali's Death: Narayan begins this story with an interesting sort of aside, saying that this is a strange chapter morally in the Ramayana, and I have to agree. Rama kills Vali, while hiding, and ultimately takes sides in a familial argument because of this. Granted, Vali seems pretty terrible, especially since the whole thing was a misunderstanding, but for Rama to take part in his death was odd. It really reminded me of a Shakespearean death scene, where a character is fatally wounded but still manages to deliver a wonderful monologue before actual death sets in. Rama and Vali have a whole conversation. Not even a conversation, but an actual debate for several pages before death actually sets in. Things that make you go 'hmm'...

Hanuman Mistaking Almost Every Woman He Finds For Sita: Alright, it only happens twice, but really Hanuman? One of the women he meets isn't even named, it's just said that she's being punished until someone finds her. Maybe the individual elements of beauty in these women are also a part of Sita, but more pure in her, and that's why he keeps mistaking her. I know he's just eager to find her, but with a description like Rama gave, how could he not tell immediately that these other women weren't her? I might be biased towards Sita.